The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1887-05-12
Speaking of the drainage of lands,

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moved from land by surface drainage,
but this has many obvious objections;
the passage of men and animals, and
the cultivation Of the ground tend to
fill the bitches, and they must be kept
open with much labor; besides, the
face of the field is much disfgured.
Under-drains, if well laid, avoid all
this. Still, this is not the principal
advantage of system of underdrains.
When water runs over the surface of
land, it has great opportunity to re-
move particles of plant-food of various
kinds, which would be, so to speak,
filtered out of it if it passed through
the soil. If we place drains, say,
thirty to thirty-three feet apart and
three or four feet deep, evenly laid,
under such soil as we are consider
ing, the water in the soil will sink
nearly to the level of the drains. 1t
will, Of course, be followed by the air,
and so the soil will become porous,
and under the influence of both air
and water down to that depth. The
soil thus acted upon is deepest at the
drains, and notably a little less deep
half way between them. When
heavy showers or protracted rains
come, the drains will run full for a
time, but should be so small, if Of
tile, as not to carry all the water off
too quickly, as, if somewhat retarded
in its outflow, it will wash less valua-
BILE material from the soil. The rains
thus percolating slowly through the
whole depth of the soil, carry with
them and leave in the soil much that
is valuable Rain-water contains a
little ammonia and nitric acid, both
most valuable, and carbonic acid,
which is a solvent of plant-food.
Though the water of drains at times
removes some plant-food, it is really
very little, and the changes which
take place in the soil, namely, drying
it, warming it, aerating it, causing
decompositions in it which render
plant-food available, and rendering
the sub-soil accessible to the roots of
plants, are Of the very highest value.
In addition to these benefits Of thor
ough drainage, it will seem paradox
ical to assert that drainage is source
of moisture in the soil.
It is nevertheless true. In dry, hot
weather, the temperature of the soil
changes rapidly, as we test on the
surface, and every two or three inches
as we descend to the level of the
drains. The soil Of well-drained
land is full Of air, and it is property
of air, as of other gases, to be always
in motion, or as part of it, any gas
which is in excess Of that which other
adjacent air contains. The tendency
is, to equalize. The air deep in the
soil is cool, and contains little moist
ure; the air blowing over the field is
hot, and though anxious to take up
more, yet has much more moisture
than the cool air of the soil. Accord
ing to the laws Of diffusion Of gasses,
the warm air penetrates the soil, be-
comes itself cool, and leaves much of
its moisture for the good of the
plants, even in the daytime, while at
night, if it be clear, the rapid radia-
ton Of heat from the soil makes the
surface cool, so that deposits freely
upon it, which is absorbed by the
spongy and porous soul which is in
fine tilth, and well drained, gets from
the air moisture enough to carry its
crops through any ordinary drought.
When there is actually liquid water
in the sub-soil, at the level Of the
drains. during dry time, and the soil
is fine and Of an absorbent nature,
the water will rise in it like water in
sponge, and so minister to the needs
of plants whose roots penetrate below
the dry surface stratum. Thus thor
oughly-drained land is found to with
stand drought better than any other,
drawing its supplies of moisture from
the atmosphere, or from the subsoil,
or from both, as the case may be.
To secure the highest benefit from
drainage, it must be accompanied by
thorough tillage. Many soils of a
heavy, clayey nature, which are not
obviously wet, so as to secure drainage,
are as much benefited by it as wet
soils, because tillage is made easier,
the subsoil is rendered permeable to
air and moisture, and because the
water passes through and not over the
soil. Drains should be laid according
to definite system, which we cannot
discuss; but, however and wherever
laid, the top of the drains should be
made impervious to water, and all
water be forced to enter up through
the bottom. This it is generally easy
to do by packing and ramming clay
upon the top Of the tiles for about
foot. When done, it is plain that the
water can bring up with it very little
silt, which might clog the drains.
Tiles are far cheaper than any other
material, in most cases. They cost
less laid than it ordinarily costs to
handle the stones for stone drains,
even if the stones lie thick upon the
ground.